Professor Antonio Rendas to finish his mandate as rector of NOVA University, Lisbon

26 July 2017

EUA would like to express its gratitude towards Professor António Rendas, an important figure of the European Higher Education community, who will finish his mandate after ten years as rector of NOVA university in Lisbon.

A professor of pathophysiology since 1982, António Rendas served as President of the Portuguese Council of Rectors from March 2010 to September 2014 and as such, was a member of the EUA Council where his contribution to the various debates was particularly appreciated by his peers.

His presentation on university autonomy delivered during the EUA 2017 Annual conference was very well received, a testimonial of his long experience in university management and of his vision about institutional autonomy.

A strong supporter of EUA, he welcomed the participants of the last EUA-CDE workshop, hosted by NOVA University in January 2017 and contributed to the Institutional Evaluation Programme activities in Portugal over the last years. In a recent video interview, he speaks eloquently about the support provided by EUA to the Portuguese sector in general and NOVA University in particular.

On 20 July, António Rendas co-chaired his last official ceremony, along with the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. NOVA University awarded an Honorary Doctorate to His Highness Shah Karim al-Hussaini, Prince Aga Khan as recognition for the active and valuable contribution of Prince Aga Khan in the areas of education, culture, in the fight against poverty and for peace. “Now that you are a member of our academic community … I hope you are willing to consider Lisbon and particularly NOVA University as a partner in making the world better with more knowledge, more culture, more social development and, above all, peace for men and women of good will.” – these were the final words of the speech delivered by the Rector at the closing of the ceremony.